Friday, October 10, 2003
Clemson University has unveiled its plans for an auto research park in Greenville, and one business writer sees a major shift in the state's economic development strategy. He writes:
"For decades, South Carolina used the same strategy to create jobs: fish for out-of-state manufacturers with the lures of cheap labor, generous tax breaks and a technical college system designed to train workers for the assembly line.
"But with the news that Clemson University has struck a deal to develop an automotive research park in Greenville, the state has taken its first big step toward a new way of developing its economy: leveraging its research universities into high-paying, high-tech jobs." Read more.
As the University of Kentucky found with its research park, success can come only if enough state resources are dedicated to building up and maintaining high quality researchers. Research parks are not real estate deals.
Clemson will include a graduate school of automotive engineering at the park. The quality of that school will be critical, and South Carolina is doing a good job to provide the resources needed to be successful.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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South Carolina moves on auto research park
